We’ve written a lot about TikTok’s troubles with politicians and potential bans in recent weeks, as well as about some of its ongoing tensions with music rightsholders. It’s only fair to also report on some of the core music activity still showing the platform’s clout in our industry.
Yesterday there were two examples. First, Ed Sheeran used TikTok to offer an early preview of his next single ‘Eyes Closed’, while also making the clip available for TikTokers to use in their own videos.
His duet video (with himself!) has been watched 1.2m times since yesterday, while a follow-up clip of him performing it in the studio has notched up 2.3m views.
Meanwhile, TikTok was also part of yesterday’s announcement (alongside the BBC’s Radio 2) of the UK’s entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Artist Mae Muller revealed her song ‘I Wrote a Song’ and, like Sheeran’s clip, it was immediately available for people to use in their own videos.
It’s just a snapshot of how TikTok looms large in big music announcements. That said, it does reinforce the importance of big artists and tracks to TikTok, which will be seized upon by critics of the app’s tests of removing such music in Australia to see how users react.
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